Old Time Radio Blog

In theory, You Bet Your Life was a quiz show. In reality, it was a half-hour of Groucho Marx ad libbing off the contestants answers to his ice breaking questions. If you can listen to this show and not laugh, you probably have no pulse.

The Six Shooter was an unusual western series starring James Stewart as Brit Ponsit. Ponsit had a reputation for wielding his pearl handled six shooter like no other. In the series, Ponsit's wit was always faster than his gun, which was almost never drawn.

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis became one of America's best entertainment partnerships basically by accident. Meeting at the club they were both playing, they were told there wasn't enough time for both to go on stage, so they decided to partner up. Ad libbing their entire act that night, they basically struck on the perfect balance of outrageously funny comedy and Dean's outrageously smooth singing. I hope you enjoy this episode.

This is Episode 453 of what is often regarded as the best show from the Old Time Radio era. Gunsmoke set the standard in many ways including the quality of the scripts, exceptional acting, and production quality. For example, the sound technician recorded star William Conrad walking in cowboy boots on a wooden deck built exactly like an old Dodge City store front deck, just to have an authentic sound for any time he needed to have Matt Dillon walking on a wooden deck.

When Mel Blanc got his own radio show, he had already become world famous for being the voice of Bugs Bunny (among many others). While this series was funny on its own merits, you can't help but recognize that much of the writing was centered around giving Blanc a chance to show off his voice talents. There are several inside jokes in each episode, such as how the lodge president talks about dispatching his wife. Still and all, the show is quite enjoyable.

As one of the original radio sitcoms, Fibber McGee and Molly holds a special place in radio history. This episode was originally broadcast just two days after the Pearl Harbor attack and the US was at war for just over 24 hours. In fact, it's a little eerie to hear the announcer talk about keeping the show on the air to keep morale up. And it's a little eerie to hear the announcer, Harlow Wilcox, mention the sponsor has agreed to allow NBC to cut in at any time with war news.

NBC ran the Rocky Fortune series for 25 episodes beginning in October 1953. This show was a "sustaining series," which means the network paid for all production costs so they could take care of Frank Sinatra's growing superstardom. Each episode features Frank as a detective in the style of the day...part hardboiled and part comic relief. I hope you enjoy.

In theory, You Bet Your Life was a quiz show. In reality, it was a half-hour of Groucho Marx ad libbing off the contestants answers to his ice breaking questions. If you can listen to this show and not laugh, you probably have no pulse.

The Six Shooter was an unusual western series starring James Stewart as Brit Ponsit. Ponsit had a reputation for wielding his pearl handled six shooter like no other. In the series, Ponsit's wit was always faster than his gun, which was almost never drawn.

In the 1950s, science fiction was all the rage and X Minus One rode that wave by bringing stories from Galaxy magazine to the airwaves. Well written, well produced, these shows are great, in my opinion.

Our Miss Brooks was a series that aired first on radio and then both on TV and radio. Unlike many of the co-media series of the day, however, the Our Miss Brooks radio show was simply the audio from the TV series. In this episode, we find the usual cast of characters creating their typical mayhem, centered around Madison High School English teacher Constance Brooks, ever chasing after relatively clueless Biology teacher Mr. Boynton.

It's a little eerie to listen to this episode and think that only a few short days after this show aired, Pearl Harbor would be bombed. In this show, Fibber is growing a mustache and then seems to get carried away with behaving like a sophisticated traveler.

NBC ran the Rocky Fortune series for 25 episodes beginning in October 1953. This show was a "sustaining series," which means the network paid for all production costs so they could take care of Frank Sinatra's growing superstardom. Each episode features Frank as a detective in the style of the day...part hardboiled and part comic relief. I hope you enjoy.

In theory, You Bet Your Life was a quiz show. In reality, it was a half-hour of Groucho Marx ad libbing off the contestants answers to his ice breaking questions. If you can listen to this show and not laugh, you probably have no pulse.

The Six Shooter was an unusual western series starring James Stewart as Brit Ponsit. Ponsit had a reputation for wielding his pearl handled six shooter like no other. In the series, Ponsit's wit was always faster than his gun, which was almost never drawn.

In the 1950s, science fiction was all the rage and X Minus One rode that wave by bringing stories from Galaxy magazine to the airwaves. Well written, well produced, these shows are great, in my opinion.

Suspense was one of the longest running series ever, clocking in nearly 1,000 episodes with very few re-used scripts. This series often features big stars of the day in roles that broke out of their norm and gave them a chance to spread their wings. Add to this high quality production values and you have a winner.

When Mel Blanc got his own radio show, he had already become world famous for being the voice of Bugs Bunny (among many others). While this series was funny on its own merits, you can't help but recognize that much of the writing was centered around giving Blanc a chance to show off his voice talents. There are several inside jokes in each episode, such as how the lodge president talks about dispatching his wife. Still and all, the show is quite enjoyable.

Often regarded as the best show from the Old Time Radio era, Gunsmoke set the standard in many ways. The quality of the scripts, the exceptional acting, the production quality second-to-none, every aspect of this series put it among the best of the best.

NBC ran the Rocky Fortune series for 25 episodes beginning in October 1953. This show was a "sustaining series," which means the network paid for all production costs so they could take care of Frank Sinatra's growing superstardom. Each episode features Frank as a detective in the style of the day...part hardboiled and part comic relief. I hope you enjoy.